Anyone know how to travel by land from Hong Kong to Everest?

[groomden]

My family may have an opportunity to take on an expat assignment to the Hong Kong area soon for the next year or two... this got me to thinking about BIG mountains. Anyone know the distances, costs, and methods available to travel to check out Everest base camp? We will have our 8 year old with us and none of us can speak Chinese, should be fun!

On the same topic, if anyone has any experience travelling from Hong Kong to Mongolia I'd love some beta on that type of trip too.

Thanks!

Dennis

[peter303]

You can take the normal train to Guangzhou (Canton). The the Tibet train to Lhasa. Then maybe connect up with an Everest Trek there.
http://www.seat61.com/China.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At politically tense times they want Lhasa visits and treks to be part of tour groups. Other times you may get to do it solo.

[roguejackalope]

I've never traveled to Lhasa (but it's on the bucket list and I've looked into it), but have some experience traveling in and around Hong Kong. If you want to go by land, train is probably the way to go. As peter303 said, the MTR is easy to ride from HK to Guangzhou. Here is the through train website:
MTR Through Train

You could also take a ferry from HK to the Guangzhou area, then catch the Tibet train. The ferry terminals are 40 min and 2 hr drive from Guangzhou proper, so that might be less convenient:
HK-Guangzhou Ferry

The Tibet train fares range from 70 to 240 USD each way, depending on class. It's a 54+ hr train ride as well. For comparison, a flight booked early enough in advance is probably 350-800 USD round trip, depending on time of year and a bunch of other factors.

You'll need a Chinese visa to enter China, a Tibet Travel Permit to enter Tibet/Lhasa, and an Alien Travel Permit to travel outside of Lhasa. And my understanding is that at the current time, it's pretty much required to be a part of a tour group. It sounds like the way to do it is shop around and book a tour/trek through a travel agency and let them arrange everything.

Hope it works out!

[Scott P]

I'll thow in my 2 cents, though it might not be the information you are looking for.

Are you looking into trekking? If so, note that the Chinese side Everest Base Camp has a road to it. The Nepal side is a much better trek.

1. If you are looking into riding there (Chinese basecamp), you could do it, but you would have to sit around an acclimatize somewhere. Lahsa and the surrounded area might be just a place, but scenery wise, it's just bleak hills for miles and miles rather than impressive mountains. The cultural sites would be very, very interesting though.

2. Personally, if travelling overland from Hong Kong, I would really suggest going to Chendu and the Wolong Panda reserve instead of the Chinese BC of Everest. It's much closer to Hong Kong, your kid can see some cool wildlife and the mountains are some of the most spectacular in the world:

http://www.summitpost.org/four-girls-si ... eng/151557" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



I haven't been to that part of China, but it's #1 on my list if I make it back.

PS, when we were in the Himalaya, my wife and I stayed in a tea house not far from the Nepal-Tibet border. We ate chicken that night. It was a little dry, but it was pretty good. The next morning they asked us what we wanted for breakfast. I had no idea what to eat for breakfast there, so I just said "eggs". The reply was something like "I'm sorry. We don't have any eggs. We haven't had any chickens in this town for years". My wife was five months pregnant so I didn't want to ask what we ate since her stomach was already sensitive. What ever it was it taste like dry chicken and didn't lay eggs. If you do end up going to Tibet and if you ever find out what it was, let us know. :D

[rangerdrew]

Scott,
What are the grades of routes on that mountain? I saw 5.11 listed for one side but didn't see any others.

[Scott P]

What are the grades of routes on that mountain? I saw 5.11 listed for one side but didn't see any others.

Too friggen hard for me, that's all I know. Unfortunately, high altitude climbs usually aren't given ratings. Since the peaks have only had one or two ascents (or very few), they could be assumed to be pretty dang hard. I would still like to see them some day, which can be done rather easily. Some of the surrounding lower peaks are (comparitively) easier; I wouldn't mind trying for one of those.

If you want to see a good movie on an ascent of one of these awesome mountains, the below is one of my favorite movies:

http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Ambitions- ... 820&sr=8-2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;